Virginia Falls In Finale With No. 20 Notre Dame
Story Links
Box Score March 13, 2016
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – It was a tight contest through five innings, but a big final two innings for the Irish gave No. 20 Notre Dame (21-3, 3-0 ACC) a win over Virginia (8-18, 0-3 ACC) by a score of 16-3 on Sunday.
The Irish pushed five runs across in the sixth and six runs across in the seventh on the way to the win. Virginia trailed 3-2 after five innings of play.
Madison Labshere (El Cajon, Calif.) provided the offense for the Cavaliers with a two-run home run. All three runs scored on at bats by the Virginia second baseman.
Erika Osherow (Darien, Conn.) took the loss for the Cavaliers to fall to 6-11 on the season. She allowed four runs, two of them earned, on four hits with a walk and a strikeout through 5.1 innings of work. Virginia used three pitchers on the afternoon.
Notre Dame started quickly with the leadoff batter reaching when she was hit by a pitch and then stealing second. A throwing error on a sac bunt to third allowed the run to come home as the Irish took the 1-0 lead out of the gates. A one-out single to right brought a second run home and Notre Dame held the two-run lead after the top of the first.
Labshere evened things up with a swing of the bat in the second inning, sending a two-run shot over the wall in right field. Danni Ingraham (Laguna Nigel, Calif.) scored on the hit after reaching with a leadoff single up the middle.
The Irish moved back in front in the fifth inning, capitalizing on a fielding error at short to put two runners in scoring position with two outs. A bloop single into shallow left brought the go-ahead run home before Virginia would get out of the inning down 3-2.
Two errors in the sixth inning proved to be the undoing of the Cavaliers, allowing five runs to come home with four of them unearned as it kept the Irish alive. Notre Dame led 8-2 after the sixth.
Virginia got a run back in the bottom of the sixth thanks to an Irish fielding error on a line drive to right from Labshere. Ingraham again scored on the play after reaching on a single. The lead stood at 8-3 for the Irish after the sixth.
Notre Dame loaded the bases to open the seventh with a double, a walk and a single. The inning ballooned from there as the Irish pushed eight runs across the plate with six hits and five walks. Notre Dame led 16-3 after the top of the seventh, a margin that would hold for the final score.
No. 20 Notre Dame 16, Virginia 3 (Mar 13, 2016 at Charlottesville, Va.)
———————————————————————-
Notre Dame………. 200 015 8 – 16 13 1 (21-3, 3-0 ACC)
Virginia………… 020 001 0 – 3 4 4 (8-18, 0-3 ACC)
———————————————————————-
Pitchers: Notre Dame – Allie Rhodes; Rachel Nasland(6) and Maddie McCracken; Casey Africano. Virginia – ; Lacy Smith(6); Lexi Mettler(7) and Katie Park.
Win-Allie Rhodes(10-2) Loss-Erika Osherow(6-11) T-2:00 A-163
HR ND – Karley Wester (1).
HR VA – Madison Labshere (5).
Weather: 63, Cloudy
E. Osherow faced 1 batter in the 6th.
L. Smith faced 6 batters in the 7th.